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Exciting growth opportunities exist for small and medium businesses taking advantage of the ever-increasing holiday shopping season. However, amidst this positive backdrop, lurks the negative threat posed by hackers and cyber criminals that prey on holiday shoppers and businesses.

A lot happened in 2015 to advance digital security, but a lot also happened to challenge the status quo and force merchants and banks to rethink their strategies. Here are some of the key changes that took place in the past year.

Like the long shutter times required for old photographs, a payment transaction at a hotel can remain exposed for a while, creating a distinct fraud risk that's not often found at other merchants.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a data security bill Tuesday that would require all financial companies to have similar security protections and notification requirements as banks.

If a fraudster doesn't know a credit card verification value code, it creates a major hurdle in attempting a card-not-present transaction with stolen cards or credentials.

SunTrust Banks Inc. introduced enhanced rewards and bonuses with three new credit cards for customers about seven weeks after the October EMV liability shift, gaining some headwind with the added security of chip cards and an offer of free FICO score reporting.

A recent column by Penny Crosman on whether cards with newer chip technology should be paired with a signature or PIN, for added security, came down squarely on the side of using PINs. But the article overlooked a key fact in the debate: neither is the most important defense against fraud. It’s the chip that matters.

As wearable computing transitions from fantasy to fashion, developers are starting to consider the distinct risks that arise when payments migrate away from smartphones.

The debate over whether signatures or PINs are a stronger security feature overlooks the fact that neither is the most important defense against fraud.

The mobile wallet is still a niche product, but many companies worldwide made big strides in bringing secure payments to handheld devices. Some of the most groundbreaking changes happened just in the past year.